Where to Stay in Cheltenham, England

What is Cheltenham known for?

On the edge of the Cotswold hills in western England, it grew rich as a Regency watering-place, and it keeps its wide tree-lined promenade and cream-coloured terraces, the pump room where the spa waters were drunk, the famous racecourse where the great steeplechase is run each spring, and a round of festivals of music and books and science. The graceful streets run wide. The green hills rise close by.

What are the main landmarks in Cheltenham?

The Promenade is the heart of Regency Cheltenham. The broad avenue of trees and cream-white terraces, lined with grand shops and the fountain of a nymph, runs through the centre, the emblem of the town, in the vale. A spa hall stands in a park.

The Pittville Pump Room lifts its dome above the gardens nearby, while the racecourse, the minster, and the art museum mark the country around Cheltenham.

What is the history of Cheltenham?

Cheltenham grew up around a spring. It was a quiet market town until mineral waters were found in the fields, and when a king came to take the cure, the fashionable world followed him to drink the waters. The spa made the town.

Fine terraces, a pump room, and a long promenade of trees went up in the Regency style, and Cheltenham bloomed as one of the great spa towns of England. Racing and festivals came later. Out at Prestbury Park a racecourse was laid in the hills, and the spring fixture grew into the greatest gathering of jump racing in the land, drawing crowds from Ireland and all over.

The town found new fame. Festivals of music, books, and science filled its halls through the year, and a great listening station settled on its edge, so that Cheltenham lived by its races, its festivals, and its handsome streets. The terraces still stand cream and white.

Cheltenham keeps its spa and its racecourse below the Cotswolds.

Where is Cheltenham?

Cheltenham lies in the west of England, at the foot of the Cotswold scarp in the vale of Gloucester. The town spreads over the flat floor of the vale below the steep wooded hills, where springs rise from the rock, with the Severn plain to the west and the high wolds rising to the east. Green hills climb close behind.

The wide vale runs west.

What is the climate of Cheltenham?

Cheltenham has a mild, damp temperate climate. Cool wet weather crosses the vale all year, with soft grey skies and rain in every season, kept mild by the western air. The rains keep the vale green.

Frost comes light in winter.

How do you get to Cheltenham?

Cheltenham lies in western England, below the Cotswold hills near Gloucester. Trains and the motorway run to it from London and Birmingham, and roads climb east into the wolds. Lanes cross the old spa town.

Gloucester lies west down the vale.